Factory Dogs in "Boxed In"

Here you can keep up to date on the progress of my Stop-Motion Animation Film "Factory Dogs". Please feel free to ask any questions.
I hope you enjoy seeing the magic of my Stop-Motion Animation evolve over the next year

Monday, 9 May 2011

I know it's been a while and I do try my best to post as often as possible. Things have been mad at work. I've been working on the World Premier of Ghost the Musical. It finishes this week so a lot more time will be spent on my projects.

Speaking of projects... I have decided to put Factory Dogs on hold while I wait for sponsorship. I want factory Dogs to be the best quality possible and that mean waiting for the sponsorship to do it justice.

But have no fear!!! In the meantime I will be working on a smaller project based more on comedy value than detail. This being Stop-Motion Zombies.

It will be very different to anything I have done. Working with full armatures and silicone to speed animation up. Also it keeps me up to speed with animating full puppets with Armatures. My end goal is to animate for a company, so the more experience animating in there techniques the better chance I have.

So please keep following my work by checking out my new blog http://www.stopmotionzombies.blogspot.com

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Well I'm two days into my animator training at Chapman Entertainment and I've already learnt soo much. I'm getting advice and tips via animators who have worked on the likes of Coraline, Corpse Bride and Fantastic Mr Fox. It's just amazing.

So... First day I spent the morning getting used to the puppet (Flash from Rory the Racing Car) I tried a few walking tests. In the afternoon I moved onto picking up a box. I made it so the box wasn't too heavy, Flash was able to pick it up with one hand.

Second day I worked at trying to show the box had a lot of weight inside which was far to heavy for Flash to lift. In the afternoon I was asked to try animating two characters walking together. Not as easy as it sounds, I had Flash and Marsha (also from Rory the Racing Car) to work with. I did a great job with Flash but a few niggles with Marsha. I will work on that tomorrow hopefully.

Flash on the set. He's skidding to a halt.

Here is my camera setup in the studio. I wish I had that camera, its awesome!

Next to my studio they are prepping one of the title shots for Rah Rah. I can't help but smile at this place, it's amazing and i can definitely see myself doing this as a career.

Sunday, 20 February 2011

Well tomorrow I start a weeks training at Chapman Entertainment. I can't wait to learn more about stop motion animation! Especially from one of the most talented companies in the northwest. They produce the likes of Fifi and the Flowertots and Rory the Racing Car.

They use exactly the same set up as me, so I am looking forward to all their tips and tricks on how I can use the software to my advantage. I will post more on my training as it unfolds through the week.

But for now... Time to sleep so I can be fresh and raring to go tomorrow

Monday, 31 January 2011

I've been busy editing the dialogue from the recordings last week into the Animatic. Its a lot of work but it will give me an idea on timings etc.

I start back at work tomorrow so things are going to be tough for the next few months. I am going to try my best to keep working on Factory Dogs but work is very full on. I'm working on a brant new premier called Ghost the Musical. So things will be very manic.

In the meantime, please check the website out and become a member, I am looking at adding a shop soon, with mugs/shirts of your favourite characters on to buyhttp://www.factorydogs.com/

Wednesday, 26 January 2011

Another successful recording done with my good pal Deano, he does the voice of Big Dean. As you can tell the character was modelled on Deano. Dean is a great character, he brightens up any room he walks into with his smile and funny anecdotes. His voice is perfect for animated films. I'm so happy to have him as my best buddy.

Only one more recording to be done with Howard who plays Bernard. That's not going to happen for a few weeks so in the meantime I'm making a publicity photo for the film (in 3D)

The animatic looks great! I can see how the film will run now, thanks to the great voices and my hundreds of drawings I've done. I might even show you all a sneaky video of a scene with the voices in action

Here are the two Dean's smiling for the camera

Keep spreading the word of Factory Dogs to everyone you know, check the website and become a member

Tuesday, 25 January 2011

Another recording finished today with Mike. He models his character on his dog Riley. When Riley was a puppy he was the funniest dog ever, he has loads of character! I just kept saying "imagine if Riley spoke, how would he say that line" Mike would do it and we all fell about laughing! It was a great recording session.

Here's Mike with Riley (oh, I mean Frederick)

I'm recording my bestest bud tomorrow, Dean. I can see a lot more laughs on it's way :-)

But for now, I'm chilling out watching the football and drinking some wine

Friday, 21 January 2011

Well today has been a very long day and I'm falling asleep as I type this. Earlier I recorded Norman's voice with Tom. This evening I had the pleasure of recording James Cockerill's voice. He plays the voice of Oswald. James has the perfect northern twang in his voice, Perfect for Oswald. He has the most dialogue so it was tiring towards the end. but we carried on and finished the recordings at 10:30pm. Well worth it!!!

That's 4 successful recordings done. Only another 3 to go! Now time for a beer and a film. I'm thinking Team America? :-)